Energy Capital Partners York 2 Data Center, Delta, Pennsylvania

Peach Bottom Township, in York County, Pennsylvania, adopted rules for data centers on August 5, 2026, a year after Energy Capital Partners announced a $5 billion data center at its Calpine York 2 Energy Center near Delta. The Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 for Ordinance No. 2026-02 after an hour-long public hearing, and confirmed that no formal data center proposal or application has been submitted to the township.

Energy Capital Partners said in July 2025 that it would develop the data center through Calpine, its energy business, on the site of the 828-megawatt gas-fired York 2 plant. The project was among $90 billion in Pennsylvania investments announced at an energy and innovation summit in Pittsburgh, and officials said it would create 2,500 construction jobs. Peach Bottom is also home to the Peach Bottom nuclear plant, owned by Constellation Energy and PSEG. "This project is just another example of how we're building a better York County that's at the leading edge of economic progress," York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler said at the time. No end user, building size or power figure for the data center itself has been made public.

At the August hearing, residents asked why data centers could not be prohibited. According to the minutes, they also raised water usage, groundwater depletion, noise, electric rates, air pollution, diesel generators, health impacts, property values, farmland, traffic, and proximity to homes and schools. The supervisors answered that Pennsylvania zoning law does not allow a township to completely exclude a lawful use, and that electric rates and withdrawals from the Susquehanna River are regulated by state agencies, outside the township's control. In July, Mary Schultz of Drumore Township and Bob Williams submitted recommendations on the draft, particularly on noise standards and resident protections.

Under the adopted ordinance, a data center is allowed only by special exception in the Industrial District, on a parcel of at least 50 acres, and must win approval from the township's Zoning Hearing Board. Rezoning any more land for one would take a separate vote by the supervisors. The May 2026 draft set a 60-foot height limit and a 1,000-foot setback where a site abuts a home, school, park, place of worship or other sensitive receptor, and capped noise at 58 decibels at the boundary of such properties. It allowed wells only for drinking and washing, required any cooling water to come directly from the Susquehanna River, and required baseline testing of at least four private wells within half a mile. If a data center fouled nearby wells, the draft required its owner to supply drinking water to affected residents, and to equip and train the Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company for emergencies at the site.

Peach Bottom is one of several York County townships writing rules ahead of proposals. By late 2025, data center proposals in Fairview, Windsor and West Manchester townships were awaiting zoning approval, and East Manchester Township drew hundreds to a hearing over rumors of one near the Royal Manchester Golf Links. York County ranks first among Pennsylvania's counties in power generation, according to GridInfo figures cited by Keystone Newsroom.

The board is Chairman Michael E. Kahl, Vice Chairman David E. Gemmill and Andrew K. Jarvis. Any application for the York 2 site would now go to the Peach Bottom Township Zoning Hearing Board for a special exception under the new rules, with the Board of Supervisors deciding any rezoning. The township told residents that future applications would appear on posted meeting agendas and the township website, and that the ordinance could be amended as technology changes.